Writing Command Versions as Aliases or Functions
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As you saw in the Section
They Won't Always Work,
aliases and shell functions can't be used everywhere that
command versions can.
Sometimes, though -- especially for commands that you'll never use from
anywhere except a shell prompt -- an alias or function is all you really need.
To write a command version from this chapter as an alias or function:
-
Use the version name (like tscan) as the name of the alias.
-
Use the MH command name (like scan) as the command run by the alias.
-
Put the MH profile arguments after the MH command.
As an example, the tscan command version from the Section
Making a New Command Version
would become this C shell alias:
alias tscan 'scan -form scan.timely'
When you run a C shell alias, the shell will use any arguments you type
after the alias name as arguments to the command in the alias.
What I mean is, if you use the tscan alias above and type:
% tscan +reports last:20
the shell will run:
scan -form scan.timely +reports last:20
That alias trick will work with all the command versions in this chapter
that can be done as an alias.
When you write a shell function, though, you need to include the arguments
with $*.
Here's tscan as a Bourne shell function:
tscan()
{
scan -form scan.timely $*
}
Most command versions in this chapter can be written as an alias or
function.
The prompter version in the Section
Append Text with prompter.nopre and the send
version in the Section
Version of send: push
can't because they're run directly by other MH commands.
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